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Monthly Archives: November 2012

Several sessions at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting will be streamed live and will be available to the public.

AGU has expanded and improved their 2012 Fall Meeting virtual meeting offerings by adding a free, live streaming option for several key sessions and lectures. More information about the schedule of events can be found online.

To receive notifications about the virtual meeting program schedule, including reminders about start times for live streaming events, text AGUVirtual to 69302. (Please note that standard text messaging rates apply.) These events are free and open to non-Fall Meeting attendees.

These sessions will also be available through the Video On-Demand program within 48-hours after the live presentations.

Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) Education/Public Outreach (E/PO) events will include a Planetary Undergraduate Faculty Workshop, Undergraduate Planetary Science Research Conference, and E/PO and Scientist Professional Development Workshop. Get all the details online at the LPSC E/PO Events webpage.

In 2007, the National Research Council published a report called The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon, which provided NASA the scientific guidance it needed for an enhanced exploration program that would provide global access to the lunar surface through an integrated robotic and human mission architecture. Over a five year period (2008-2012), eight summer study groups were organized to determine where on the surface those scientific objectives could be addressed. Maps with those locations were compiled for each scientific goal. This was a completely novel and objective way to identify the global distribution of future landing sites. In the end, when the maps for all of the goals are overlaid, a series of scientifically-rich landing sites emerge, some of which had never been considered before.

The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE) is excited to share its science topics with the public through fantastic traveling exhibits. Designed for libraries, these banners use colorful images and text to share current lunar science and exploration stories. The displays can be used to excite and engage patrons in further exploration through library resources and programs.

Find out more online about the current exhibits, borrowing guidelines, and about how to request a exhibit.

Excited about the success of the Curiosity rover on Mars and hungry for robotic exploration on the Moon? Join us as we chat with Tom Carlone about the Google Lunar X Prize Astrobotic Team’s Polaris rover – a lunar rover prototype for prospecting ice at the poles of the Moon. Polaris will search for water, oxygen, methane, and other volatiles which could be useful for energy, supporting life, and producing rocket fuel. Taking the first step towards off-Earth resource application, Polaris also aims to claim the Google Lunar X Prize as part of its 2015 mission!

Tom is a first-year Master’s student at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. He recently completed his B.S. in Robotics Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he started his experience in planetary robotics through a NASA-sponsored rover competition. He was part of a team that developed rovers used in sample return mission scenarios, tests, and evaluations at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Tom is currently involved in collaborations with Astrobotic Technologies, in development of the Polaris rover.

The abstract submission deadline is January 8. For more information, read the submission instructions. NEW for this year: For oral presentations, speakers must be one of the first five authors on the abstract, and brief abstract summaries are now limited to 160 characters. (It was previously 250 characters).

Students interested in applying for the Dwornik Award? The deadline is January 9.

Students interested in applying for the LPI Career Development Award? The deadline is January 11. All information must be submitted electronically this year.

If you missed a MyMoon webcast, or just want to see and hear your favorites again, visit the MyMoon webcast archive. The archives go back to 2009, and the archives are updated after each MyMoon webcast.

The NOVA program Ultimate Mars Challenge will air tonight on PBS. Check local listings for additional times.

Why go back to Mars? Far from dead, Mars holds untold potential. Nearly half a century of Mars exploration has yielded tantalizing clues that Mars may once have harbored life—and may harbor it still. The extraordinary landing of a revolutionary rover named Curiosity—which successfully touched down inside the Gale Crater—means we have wheels down on the planet once again, in the form of the most sophisticated robot ever to rove the Mars surface. Will NASA’s bold mission and this marvel of technology answer some of our biggest questions and usher in a new golden age of exploration? NOVA goes behind the scenes on NASA’s quest to solve the riddles of the red planet.

Find out more about the program and check out the related links online.